₦airaland Forum

imMannerPhilipz:
IBOM INTERNATIONAL HOTEL: FROM COMMONWASTE TO COMMONWEALTH

On Tuesday, October 21, 2025, after returning from the flag-off ceremony for the ARISE Youth Friendly Center in Nsit Ubium, I decided to make a brief stopover at the Tropicana Mall on Udoudoma Avenue to pick up some groceries. As I exited the mall, my ears were pricked by the sibilance of heavy construction work at the Ibom International Hotel, located less than 400 meters within the 82-hectares of the Tropicana complex.

Drawn by curiosity, I skirted around the mall to the construction site. It was a busy hive of industry, swarming with haulage trucks, day laborers, engineers, and safety professionals in reflective gear. And towering over it all was the gigantic 14-storey hotel building, wrapped in skeletal scaffolding. A few men as little as birds, perched on the steel framework, while a massive crane arched close to the building.

For over 15 years, this 200-room, abandoned 14-storey hotel stood in infamy, with its massive grey concrete and sun-bleached blue glass dominating that end of the city skyline like a menacing tombstone.

As I inched closer to the site, the warm golden glow of the evening sun caught a male laborer idling in front of me. Not more than 35 years old, he seemed much like he might have been molded from the dust of the site. His dark skin and face and hair were coated in pale grit.

There were countless others like him at the site. Perhaps a hundred, both male and female.

But Mr Alade, the admin officer disagreed with the figure the moment I sat in his air-conditioned container cabin to discuss it.

There are 320 workers here on any given day,” he said matter-of-factly. “And upon completion, the hotel is expected to add a significant number of jobs to the 3,000 jobs projected for the Ibom Tropicana complex.”

“That’s impressive.” I replied “The governor seems quite impressed by the pace of work in the hotel the last time he visited. When is the project expected to be completed?” I prodded.

He did not hesitate. “Well, barring force majeure or other unforeseen circumstances, this project would be ready for commissioning in eight months.”

I made a mental note. “That’s May, 2026?”

“Absolutely”. He said.

“Including the landscaping and all?”

Sensing my anxiety, he arched his head backward in a smile. The construction site was a vast, chaotic mountain of debris and craters filled with muddy water.

“Quite soon, the landscaping will begin.” He assured. “And when it’s completed, the result will be as picture perfect as what you see in the model,” he said, pointing to the picture of the hotel model on the wall. I took a few pictures.

I left the site feeling a warm, satisfying sense of pride. Governor Umo Eno had resurrected a dream everyone had written off. By mustering the political will to pull this off barely two years into office, he has definitively rejected the corrosive culture of abandoning the previous administration's projects and set a new template for those to come after him.

A couple of years back, the Tropicana project was labeled a white elephant and impossible to actualize by not a few prominent voices in the state. And it’s debatable whether or not their fears were justified.

The immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel, in one of his live interactive sessions with the media acknowledged the project was non-viable. But despite his observation, the forward-thinking governor, to his credit, pressed on and completed the Tropicana Mall, one of the key components of the project.

Where Mr Emmanuel expressed cautious skepticism about Tropicana project, Arc, (Obong) Victor Attah, Godswill Akpabio’s predecessor, was emphatic in his condemnation as soon as it was conceptualized. He noted that the project raised environmental concerns, structural concerns and even siting concerns. Not given to repressing his opinion on topical issues, he had written a lengthy letter to that effect to then-Governor Godswill Akpabio who, as it turned out, did not think he was deserving of such a letter. What followed was a media blitzkrieg against Obong Attah which eventually birthed the famous rebuttal from the media handlers of then governor “What does Attah really want?”

This honest recollection is not intended to stir strife, exhume contentious issues surrounding the 16-year-old project, or insinuate that Godswill Akpabio’s vision was faulty. Its purpose is simply to provide a brief backdrop to the project’s unfolding story.

As a matter of fact, dwelling on past conflicts serves no purpose, not with Governor Umo Eno at the helm of affairs. He is a conciliator, a unifier, and a peacemaker, the one charged with the ministry of reconciliation.

“We have resolved to put the past behind us. We have structures on ground, what I’m doing now is to see all of the vision, what it was all about, how we can link them together and how we can revive them. This is Akwa Ibom money and so my duty as Governor is to protect the assets of Government, life and property of the people. Government has sunk in so much money here and so I believe we can look at it.

“For me, what is important, going forward, is how we can reclaim this place and make it functional. This project when completed will provide thousands of jobs to Akwa Ibom people “ the governor said.

Beyond the 200 rooms Ibom International Hotel, which lies within the 82-hectare Tropicana complex, work has progressed significantly on the Ibom International Conference Center. Furthermore, the Ibom Shopping City has been approved, with work set to commence soon.

It is worth recalling that Governor Umo Eno has consistently demonstrated ability to convert our commonwaste to commonwealth. Evidence abound. The Arise Recreational Park for instance, which was given birth to on a ravine is transforming into a world class resort facility with completion date set for December 2025.